Composite materials, including aerospace-grade composite materials comprise layers of impregnated composite material, or prepregs that, in turn comprise resins or blends of resin-containing compounds, including epoxy monomers including, without limitation, multifunctional epoxy monomer(s) and a bi-functional amine monomer(s). The prepreg layers must be cured to achieve a useable finished composite material. To achieve a reasonable rate of reaction, and to therefore effect a cure within a reasonable amount of time, the prepregs are commonly subjected to elevated temperatures and pressures during curing.
For example, current aerospace fiber/epoxy prepreg materials comprise long-chain epoxy backbone molecules and long-chain amine curative molecules. To properly cure composite parts, accepted cure techniques require high temperature ranging from about 250° F. to about 355° F. (oven cure). Other accepted cure techniques require both high temperature ranging from about 250° F. to about 355° F. and high pressure ranging from about 45 psi to about 100 psi (autoclave cure). Ovens and autoclaves used to produce the composite material curing conditions (high temperatures and high pressures) are expensive, and take up a considerable footprint in the composite manufacturing process, adding to the overall production cost of the component parts and finished product. In addition, the size (dimension) of the parts able to be cured according to known curing methods is necessarily limited by the physical dimensions of the oven or autoclave available to be used in the curing process. Still further, tooling used to shape the composite parts must also withstand the high temperature and/or high pressure conditions. In addition, the tooling ideally must match the coefficient of thermal expansion of the prepreg material, further complicating the process and often adding a commensurate processing expense, while restricting the availability of otherwise desirable tooling materials.
An efficient and cost-effective curing system that can be conducted at lower pressures and temperatures would be useful, cost-effective and highly advantageous.